Madden NFL 06

EA's gridiron is still great, but fails to outdo itself for the first time in recent years.

The AI quirks I mentioned earlier pop up around draft time when it's just as likely that a quarterback will be drafted by the NY Giants, or a running back by New Orleans, as it is for a team to draft appropriately for their specific needs. After the interviews, tests, hiring, and so forth you may be drafted as LaDainian Tomlinson 's backup in San Diego, despite the choice to answer an interview response that you want to play for a team with winning history.

The most enjoyable feature within Superstar Mode is the performance institute: a training facility run by ze German, J.C. (Hans and Frans' long lost cousin) which players can use to increase stats, and generally improve their overall game. The catch is that only a few agents have access to it, and they just so happen to be the best in the business, so it will take a good many hours of gameplay, before you can build up the exposure and marketability to attract their, eyes even after, say, three consecutive player of the week performances. Smart move by EA: make you play for a long time before the coolest mini-game becomes available. All in all, Superstar mode is good fun for those of you who enjoy Madden's single-player features. If you relished NCAA Football 06's Race for the Heisman, you'll love playing through Superstar, and some version of it will most certainly be around in the years ahead.

Franchise mode has become deeper and more immersive every year and even more so for 2006. Gameplan preparation is also accessible in Superstar, allowing you to practice specific plays relevant to the opposition faced that Sunday. By effectively executing those plays the performance boosts are then added to certain players if you run the same plays during that week's game -- adding to their efficiency on the field. By running a hail mary as prep. you can improve receivers catching stats or the QB's throwing power helping to increase the probability of completing that desperation jump ball if you run it during the game. The new spawn feature allows users to save key games during the season, and play them at a later time (while still able to re-merge these results back into the franchise season). Also, Tony Bruno's radio show has added new callers and segments that give freshness to one of the Franchise mode's major additions of 2005. So if franchise is your predominate mode of play, like it is for many, this year it only gets better.

Make no mistake about it, Madden is still great.

The Verdict

It's likely Tiburon did a little experimentation on this, the last Madden released before the next gen systems drop, to test out some ideas. In the first year where Madden is all we get when it comes to licensed pro football, I was expecting more. But then again, maybe EA's exclusivity with the NFL will hamper their annual improvements, being that their only opponent this year is what, Blitz? A franchise that became so enjoyable and successful like this one will incidentally force itself under a microscope to be revered or criticized when any radical change occurs.

Despite those faults, however, Madden NFL 06 is still a fantastic game, just not as much fun to play as it has been the last few years. This was bound to happen with how well it;s been consistently improving over time. For those gamers who only buy Madden as their one game a year, maybe this could be your favorite installment yet, but for everyone else, 2006 feels like a stutter step or experimental addition to the franchise that has failed to outdo itself for the first time in recent memory.